Feb. 26, 2008

Expected to have about $25 million under the salary cap when the ’08 free-agency period begins, the Packers certainly will have enough money to re-sign their most attractive free agent, DT Corey Williams, who received the team’s franchise tag. That means he’s entitled to a one-year deal worth $6.363 million once he signs the tender. Assuming Williams signs the tender or agrees to a long-term contract with the Packers, Green Bay will remain very deep at D-tackle, with Ryan Pickett, Johnny Jolly and 2007 first-round pick Justin Harrell also in the mix. None of the Packers’ other free agents is considered a definite keeper. Rob Davis, who ­hasn’t missed a game since taking over as the team’s long-snapper halfway through the 1997 season, is expected to sign a one-year contract extension soon. GM Ted Thompson has proven to be much more dependent on the draft than free agency, but if the right kind of player is available in the free-agent market (as was previously the case with Pickett and CB Charles Woodson), Thompson wouldn’t hesitate to go after him. The Packers have also shown a knack for re-upping with ascending players — they gave TE Donald Lee a four-year contract extension during the ’07 campaign —  and it would hardly be a shock if they decided to work out a new deal for Ryan Grant, who burst out of the woodwork in the second half of the ’07 season to become one of the league’s most productive running backs.